海角大神

Forty years have passed since Ronald Reagan, the dominant figure of 20th-century American conservatism, waged his final campaign for the presidency. Reagan鈥檚 landslide reelection in 1984 affirmed his stature as a political force, and his legacy continues to resonate as Americans navigate another important election year.

With that in mind, 鈥淩eagan,鈥� Max Boot鈥檚 new biography of the 40th president, couldn鈥檛 be more timely. Timing was obviously much on his mind as Boot, a historian, foreign policy analyst, Washington Post columnist, and former 海角大神 Science Monitor staffer, worked on this ambitious account of Reagan鈥檚 life. Reagan occupied the White House from 1981 to 1989, and a dwindling number of his administration鈥檚 key figures are still around. Boot managed to interview quite a few, and 鈥淩eagan鈥� could very well be the last biography of its kind to draw on so many personal conversations with key primary sources.

In his introduction, Boot laments that while much has been written about Reagan, 鈥渢here is still no definitive biography.鈥� Given the scope of his research, which also uses extensive archival material, the author clearly wanted to leave no stone unturned.

Is 鈥淩eagan鈥� definitive? Perhaps that ideal will remain elusive, since Reagan, who died at 93 in 2004, was famously hard to define. He had almost no close friends, and his only abiding confidant, apparently, was his wife, Nancy. 鈥淥ne of his closest aides, Michael K. Deaver, confessed, 鈥楢t times Ronald Reagan has been very much a puzzle to me,鈥� while his longtime secretary, Helene von Damm, wrote that 鈥榟e was fundamentally a very difficult man to know,鈥欌�� Boot tells readers.

Reagan鈥檚 inscrutability most memorably confounded biographer Edmund Morris, who was so stumped in trying to discern the former president鈥檚 character that he threw up his hands and wrote 鈥淒utch,鈥� a 1999 project that ditched conventional biography and probed his subject through speculative fiction. For a more straightforward exposition of Reagan鈥檚 times, Richard Reeves鈥� 鈥淧resident Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination,鈥� remains hard to beat. In focusing more narrowly on the president鈥檚 White House years, Reeves yielded a swift read. 鈥淩eagan: The Life,鈥� a 2015 biography by H.W. Brands, is especially useful for its insights into the president鈥檚 domestic policies.

Perhaps not surprisingly given Boot鈥檚 experience in foreign policy, he鈥檚 especially astute at unpacking Reagan鈥檚 diplomacy. Although the president was widely celebrated for working in tandem with Pope John Paul II to help bring down the Soviet empire, Boot argues that the relationship was more nuanced, with the leaders sometimes sharing goals but also having significant differences about how they should be advanced.

Reagan鈥檚 partnership with fellow conservative and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, often depicted as one of unbridled mutual admiration, comes in for a reappraisal, too. Thatcher was more cerebral and sometimes sighed at Reagan鈥檚 loose command of policy details. 鈥淵et even though Thatcher remained doubtful about Reagan鈥檚 intellect,鈥� Boot writes, 鈥渟he always appreciated his political instincts because they tallied so closely with her own on most issues.鈥�

Boot proves equally eager to refine popular notions about Reagan鈥檚 relationship with U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O鈥橬eill. Public collegiality between the staunch Republican and diehard Democrat is often evoked as a shining example of less partisan times. 鈥淎 legend has developed that Reagan and O鈥橬eill were friends,鈥� Boot notes. While not really chums 鈥� O鈥橬eill would later describe Reagan as the worst president he had known 鈥� the two knew how to compromise.

The first quote in 鈥淩eagan鈥� comes from James A. Baker III, who served as Reagan鈥檚 chief of staff. 鈥淗e was a true conservative, but, boy, was he pragmatic when it came to governing,鈥� Baker says of his former boss. Reagan, Boot points out, had been a deal maker all his life 鈥� with Hollywood studio bosses during his movie career, lawmakers during his time as governor of California, and, during his presidency, with members of Congress and world leaders.

That kind of give-and-take seems rare in national life at the moment, but Boot touches on other aspects of Reagan鈥檚 leadership that are anything but salutary. Reagan sent out 鈥渁n unmistakable dog whistle to white bigots while insisting that he was no racist,鈥� Boot writes, particularly in his 1966 campaign for governor of California, and later in office.

The president also loved anecdotes, continuing to repeat them even when confronted by evidence of their falsehood. 鈥淩eagan had a disturbingly cavalier attitude toward factual accuracy that, arguably, helped to inure the Republican Party to 鈥榝ake news,鈥欌�� the author laments.

If his pronouncements could sometimes be fanciful, Reagan鈥檚 background in the movie industry kept him alert to the theatrical aspects of leadership. As one of his speechwriters, Peggy Noonan, put it, 鈥渨hat always struck me was his friendly grace, his enjoyment of the moment and of other people and his intuitive understanding of the presidential style.鈥�

As he shouldered one of the most eventful presidencies in history, Reagan found his Hollywood experience invaluable. 鈥淭here have been times in this office,鈥� he admitted, 鈥渨hen I wondered how you could do the job if you hadn鈥檛 been an actor.鈥�